Well, having worked on the car in the garage a few days, I neglected to see that it had rolled back slightly between shifting in and out of gear. Closed the garage door and when i saw it miss the top of rear bumper, I thought I was good, until I heard it scratch the hell out of the back of the bumper. To make it worse, the garage door safety mechanism kicked in and it went back the other way.

This is what I'm looking at (yes, i know it's horribly dirty)





The good news is that I already have a brand new bottle of 02 galaxy silver touch-up paint. My question is do I need some sort of filler material for these scratches or would I do better to just build-up layers of dried paint, then buff/wax?

 

It all depends on how you want it to look when you do a "touch-up". If you do not care that is matches...then you can slowly apply several layers of touch-up paint and give it a few days to dry and once the scratch is filled in...sand and buff it. The touch-up paint will fill in these scratches but it will take a few applications.

If you care that when it is completed and you can not tell it occurred. Touch up paint WILL NOT WORK!!! Not my opinion...but a fact. The reason is that when the bumper was sprayed...it atomized the metallics/pearls in your color and dispersed them evenly. Using a brush and trying to get the dispersal consistency the exact same...it about impossible to the point that you can not detect it at all. Not only that...the odds that the color in your touch up bottle is exact to your car is highly unlikely due to variants in colors through the model year....REGARDLESS of what the label says on the bottle. There is NO WAY that the first Galaxy Silver that was painted matches the last Galaxy Silver painted when they were built several months apart. And with 11 years on the paint job...there is a fade rate that occurs...even if it is not exposed to excessive sunlight.

SO...it is back to what I asked in the beginning...it all depends on how you want it to look when completed. Using this Silver can cause it to look dark gray when brushed due to not getting it light enough because you are not atomizing the color.

Bad spot to get a scratch...I have fixed several much like how yours looks now. Going through/across the letters makes it "fun" to fix.

DUB

 

I understand. Thanks. Given the car's purpose is a daily driver and will never see a show, a close match is all I need at the moment. If i keep the car as long as I plan to, I may end up getting the color changed anyway.

 

Then using your touch up paint will work. Apply it thin ( because it will dry faster than a thick coat)...let dry...re-apply until you get ti slightly higher than the surface. Wet sand carefully with 1500 or 200 grit and polish.

If/when you plan on getting it re-painted. Make sure you let the painter know that you filled that area in with touch-up paint and that it was a deep scratch. That way he/she can determine what step ( if any) he/she will choose to do there so a paint problem does not show up.

It is really hard to tell how deep this scratch is in your photo. But you can wet it with water and see how much color was removed....and while it is wet...does the color look right and not disturbed. If the silver is still intact...except for a very small dot I can see in the photo. you can apply clear in the scratch and build it up with that instead. Just make sure it is clean and dry prior to applying the clear.

DUB

 

I'm pretty sure most of the scratch didn't take out the color, but some small areas did. Is there any special type of clear i should use? I assume a spray would be best?

 

If color is not required. You can hopefully get a very small amount of clear/hardener/reducer from a local body shop and mix small portions and apply very carefully with an artist brush. If the clear you get from a shop (when mixed) is too thin and watery...allow it to cure a bit and keep checking it so when you apply it to your scratch..it can cling and not run down the panel and form a drip at the end.

Or...you can use the clear touch up in a bottle much like the color you obtained.

I do not think I would spray the clear,, because if I were to do that...I would have to prep it which would require sanding which in turn could damage the paint structure,,,thus requiring me to shoot color.

DUB

 

Sounds like precise application is the best bet. Thanks for you help, I"ll post back when it's "repaired"

 

YEP...taking the time...the first time...in this case would be BEST.

DUB